Kurt Browning wins the first of his 4 world titles. Fadeev led after the compulsories, with Petrenko 2nd and Filipowski 3rd. Bowman was 4th and Browning 5th. However, both Fadeev and Petrenko suffered falls in their short programs, thereby making way for both Bowman and Browning to move up. Browning won the SP with a superb performance, and that moved him up to 2nd overall. Bowman's 2nd place in the SP, moved him up to first overall. Browning then won the LP and took the title, with Bowman 2nd (both in the FS and overall). For the 2nd consecutive world championships running, Browning landed a 4T in his FS, although the landing was slightly two footed.

Midori Ito wins her first and only world title. Claudia Leistner led after the compulsories, with Trenary 2nd and Ito 6th. Ito then won the short program, with Trenary finishing 2nd. This moved Trenary up to 1st overall, with Ito 3rd (Leistner 2nd). Ito then produced what I think was one of the greatest ever performances of a program by a ladies singles skater, to win both the FS and the title. Her LP contained all 6 different types of triple jump (7 triples in total), including a 3T+3T combination and 3A (she had landed the first ever 3A by a lady in 1988 at the Aichi Prefecture Regional Competition, and then landed one for the first time internationally at the 1988 NHK Trophy). It changed the whole landscape of Ladies figure skating forever, forcing others to inject more difficult content into their programs to remain competitive (especially with compulsories being phased out altogether after the 1989/90 season) Trenary had a disastrous FS and fell to 3rd overall, with Leistner taking the Silver medal.

Ekaterina Gordeeva & Sergei Grinkov regain their world title, having lost it the previous year when Gordeeva had come down with the Flu and fallen in the LP. They won both the SP and LP at these championships to win their 3rd world title easily. Kristi Yamaguchi & Rudy Galindo finished 5th. Yamaguchi also took part in the Ladies singles, where she finished 6th.

After finishing 2nd at 4 consecutive world championships behind Bestemianova & Bukin, Marina Klimova & Sergei Ponomarenko finally win the world title. They won easily. The Duchesnay's finished 3rd. Their OSP was highly controversial. Their feather boa and straw hat were considered props (as opposed to being part of their costumes) by some judges, and received deductions. They also received deductions from some judges for using vocals in their music.

Evgeni Platov finished 6th in the Ice Dance with Larisa Fedorinova. The following season, Platov's coach, Natalia Dubova, changed his partner to Oksana Grishuk. Grishuk & Platov would go on to win 4 world titles and 2 Olympic titles (becoming the only ice dancers to win 2 Olympic titles), and they would win 20 consecutive competitions between 1994 and 1998. Nevertheless, the road was not a smooth one. As a result of problems between Grishuk and Maya Usova, Grishuk left Dubova's group in 1992. Platov acquired a new partner, whilst Grishuk attempted to find a new one in Germany, before returning to her previous coach, Natalia Linichuk. Platov then decided to re-team with Grishuk in the Autumn of 1992, and they were then coached by Natalia Linichuk. Platov later said of his partnership with Grishuk: "It's like being a husband and a wife. Sometimes, you fight. Sometimes, you walk away and calm down. I met her a long time ago, and I still remember her as a little girl on the ice. She was so little. So active. Usually, little girls are boring. But that girl. Oh, there was a fire on ice." He added: "It's hard to change her mind. She fights every step. But it works out. That's why she is so good."

I was awaiting this retrospective! Even with the mistakes here, Alexander Fadeev came out in the 1989 season with two of my all-time favorite programs, especially the short program (which often gets overshadowed by his free skate, probably due to his amazing skate/costume drama at the Europeans a few months prior).

Midori Itos program was sparkling with such effervesence. The fact that this program decades later is still being looked at as the one of the best technical programs really speaks volumes. Yamaguchi showed the world she would be a contender after the end of figures too.

I love Ito in 1990 but I love her even more here. Not the SP which was a real step back in terms of artistic concept after 1988 - they should have kept that SP - but the LP which, while a technical tour de force, is also to me an example of a quintessential 1980's ladies LP in the very best way. I adore the Frank Mills music and it's still on my iPod. Choreographically it's a perfect fit and her presentation is so honest here and she really did get this music. Shez was great too but it also heralded the start of over choreographing her programs where she appeared to be overloaded with a surplus of random moves that had nothing to do with the actual music and were all done in an effort to hide her flaws and project an image of artistry but don't maximise her strengths. What they should have done is what they did with this 1989 LP which highlights her strengths. I actually think her earlier Yamaha corporation composed LP's had better cohesiveness in terms of her skating style than some of her later programs.

Ito's LP at 1990 Worlds was even better i think. What a crime Trenary won. Thank God figures were done after that year.

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Completely agree about School Figures. The best thing that ever happened to skating was the removal of compulsories. They had become an anachronism. They should have disappeared in the 1960s. Had they done so, then the likes of Janet Lynn and Denise Biellmann would have most likely won the world and Olympic titles they deserved.

Midori Ito's LP was one for the ages- the first 3A by a lady at worlds, and a row of 6.0's (five of them) for technical marks!
I thought she would win the next 3-4 titles, but it was not to be. I remember her lovely blue dress and much improved artistry. Scott Hamilton's comment when she landed a 3t-3t like it was nothing at all- "I have never seen a lady skate like this!"

G&G's LP to Die Fledermaus was a model of how to skate pairs. It was a perfect skate and should have received higher marks, but they won easily, so that was a non-issue.

Cindy Landry & Lyndon Johnston of Canada surprised everyone by winning the silver. She as just 17, and Johnston was around 27.

I first saw Bechke & Petrov, and could see how different and innovative (although imperfect) they were than G&G.

Yamaguchi & Galindo at their first senior worlds- a clean skate and their emotions were high, but their coach was dying of brain tumor.

Kurt won his first world championship and he said- the first thing I want to do is: not fall off the podium Interestingly, those days they allowed two 3A's in the SP (one in combination).

Gregorz Filipowski had the skate of his life, skating the LP to Warsaw concerto. His reaction at the end was precious. He won the bronze medal- the only world medal he ever won.

Viktor Petrenko was supposed to be the next champion, coming in as the Olympic bronze medallist, but he had a poor skate (I think in both SP and LP) and he missed the podium.

Chris Bowman was good enough talentwise to challenge Kurt, but he didn't quite deliver it. The 3A was his nemesis. I loved his stylistic approach to skating and the spring in his jumps.

In ice dance, it was nice to see Klimova-Ponomarenko win their first world title, although I thought the Mac the knife program didn't bring out the best in them.

I was so impressed with Usova-Zhulin's FD (Mars from the Planet suite and a Chopin piece sandwiched between two Mars)

The highlight of these worlds was both Midori Ito and Klimova/Ponomarenko. For Marina & Sergei, it was finally getting that gold medal that they had truly deserved for so many years but had to wait until 1989 to receive it. I found the comedy in their FD that year to be kind of flat and artistically, I found the program to be trite. But the choreography was seamless and difficult yet they skated it to clinical perfection. They really knew how to make the difficult look easy.

The problem with 80s judging was that there was a pecking order in place, and like Lu Chen several years later, Ito did not have a strong fed behind her. They were happy with her placing top 6 even though her presentation was perfectly respectable at the time. We already commented on other threads that Claudia Leistner won TWO silvers at Worlds, that should wake you up. Ito's marks in the 80s were atrocious considering Kira Ivanova, Leistner, etc.

G&G's LP to Die Fledermaus was a model of how to skate pairs. It was a perfect skate and should have received higher marks, but they won easily, so that was a non-issue.

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Yeah I was like WTF at their marks too, it was a perfect opportunity to hand out all 5.9s and 6.0s and that is what should have happened. The skate would have been unbeatable for anyone, but more to the point what the heck were they remotedly saving marks for considering the field this year.

BTW Bowman was 3rd in the LP. Filipowski was 2nd in the LP. Despite beating Bowman in both figures and the LP he ended up only 3rd overall since he was 5th in the short program (with a mistake) while Bowman was 2nd in the SP.

I got the impression the judges were really wanting to give Fadeev the gold this year and he duplicated his LP from Europeans he would have won it for sure. He also could have won it by nailing the short program, even with his fall about long program he would have had an insurmountable lead most likely and still won the gold. That was his 3rd or 4th great chance to win Worlds (85, 86, 89, to a lesser degree 87) and he only managed to win 1 of those, and of course he failed to medal in either the 84 or 88 Olympics despite winning a medal at every single Worlds between them. His best performances every season were at Europeans it seems, except for 1985. Funny thing is the following season in 89-90 he seemed to still be one of the top skaters, he beat Petrenko to win the 1990 Soviet Nationals, and he was 2nd at NHK behind Petrenko but ahead of Browning, but he dissapeared altogether sometime before Europeans and never competed amateur again. No retirement announcement, no anything. An enigmatic and bizarre retirement, similar to the rest of his career.

People talk about Bowmans unfulfilled potential but I think one thing that would have always hurt him even with a great work ethic is his axel technique was poor. I am not sure if he would have ever had a really stable triple axel even with a better work ethic, and without that it would have always been hard to win major events in that era, but nobody will ever know for sure.

BTW Bowman was 3rd in the LP. Filipowski was 2nd in the LP. Despite beating Bowman in both figures and the LP he ended up only 3rd overall since he was 5th in the short program (with a mistake) while Bowman was 2nd in the SP.

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Many thanks for clarifying. I have not been able to find anything that confirms how they finished in the FS itself, although I did notice that in his/her intros to the YouTube videos, 3Axel1996 states that Browning won and Bowman finished second. Hence, I am glad you have been able to clear up matters. Do you have a link to the official detailed standings for the LP section?

Many thanks for clarifying. I have not been able to find anything that confirms how they finished in the FS itself, although I did notice that in his/her intros to the YouTube videos, 3Axel1996 states that Browning won and Bowman finished second. Hence, I am glad you have been able to clear up matters. Do you have a link to the official detailed standings for the LP section?

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No, I dont, but Browning in his book detailed the standings of every program, an article from the Globe and Mail which I read at the time listed the standings and factored points of each program, and the CBS coverage had Scott Hamilton mention Filipowski needed to place 2nd in the LP just to win the bronze. So I am 100% sure that Filipowski was 2nd in the LP phase. Here is the CBS coverage, and they mention at 4:11 he would have to beat Bowman in the LP in order to medal:

The problem with 80s judging was that there was a pecking order in place, and like Lu Chen several years later, Ito did not have a strong fed behind her. They were happy with her placing top 6 even though her presentation was perfectly respectable at the time. We already commented on other threads that Claudia Leistner won TWO silvers at Worlds, that should wake you up. Ito's marks in the 80s were atrocious considering Kira Ivanova, Leistner, etc.

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STOP HATING ON CLAUDIA! :/ I love her 1989 LP to MacArthur Park, her best EVAH! Besides, who else should have medalled?

STOP HATING ON CLAUDIA! :/ I love her 1989 LP to MacArthur Park, her best EVAH! Besides, who else should have medalled?

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Yamaguchi or even Lebedeva! LOL. That MacArthur Park was was a drag show. She seriously just stands there and moves her arms and shakes her rear like we are supposed to be watching her lip syncing.

I enjoy Claudia's personality, but she was comical. Anybody who had any choreography was one step above her. I admire her jumps and spins at her impressive height, but there was no finished product/program. It was all unintentional camp.

Many people say the first season after an Olympic year is boring, because mostly almost every top skater has retired, but for me it was still exciting to see who took the place of the skaters who left and to see if they would still be there in 4 years time.

Many people say the first season after an Olympic year is boring, because mostly almost every top skater has retired, but for me it was still exciting to see who took the place of the skaters who left and to see if they would still be there in 4 years time.

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Interesting comment. I tried to see who that won medals in 1989 and won medals in the Olympics in 92.

Men:

89 Worlds: Browning, Bowman, Filipowski
92 Olympics: Petrenko, Wylie, Barna (although Browning did come back to win another world title in 93)

I find the norm is the strongest Worlds is the pre Olympic year Worlds, the next strongest is the mid quad Worlds, then the post Olympic year Worlds, and naturally last normally the post Olympic World itself. As for predictors to the Olympics I find the post Olympic Worlds usually means very little as it is usually skaters just ending up their careers, the post Olympic year Worlds tends to also not mean as much as often skaters cant carry their momentum that long for another 3 years, the mid quad Worlds is often the one that starts to put the picture and the contenders for the next Olympics into play, and often is a crucial Worlds for many competitors as it often sets new trends and ranks that arent reversed, and the pre Olympic Worlds is the one that really establishes a pecking order of sorts and draws the major battle lines going into the games.